180. I hugged Santa Claus.

Yes, I hugged Santa, and I don't even believe in him.  Now, I hope there isn't anyone out there reading this offended by that.  I was once too a Santa believer.  I clung to the hope of his realness much longer than the normal student.  Probably fourth grade?  But I by then I was forming doubts.  Everyone around me led me to believe he wasn't real.

I obviously know he isn't real now.  In fact, I have thought of a hypothetical situation in my future.  One day, I might have children, as many do.  And on that day (or many, really) will I tell my children about Santa Claus?  I mean, once I learned about Santa not being real, I was offended about my parents lying to me.  It also caused me to ask the question.  Lying about Santa is something many, many parents do.  It makes their children happy.  But does that make it okay?  And really, doesn't Santa take away from Christmas?  If your kids thought you were the ones giving them the loving gifts off from the start, would they feel more loved?  Or if you are a religious household, maybe spend more time on the true meaning of Christmas, instead of wondering if reindeer can fly?

That being said, Christmas is my favorite time of the year!  I love it, even though I do have that whole problem.  I start listening to Christmas carols on Thanksgiving, and pretty much don't stop till after Christmas.  Like anyone, I love to receive presents.  I also like to give them, who doesn't love finding the perfect present for someone you care about?  And seeing all your family is awesome too.  And Church services, at least mine, tend to be more exciting and interesting then the normal ones.  No offense to my Church, but it can get a bit dry sometimes.  And last, but probably forgetting other things, the yummy food is, as always, a bonus.

I am in the Christmas mood right now, as you can tell, because I went to a Christmas concert tonight.  On top of that, it really snowed!  This made driving to and from the concert difficult, but I still enjoyed the snow.  By the way, I hugged Santa at the concert.

The concert was actually quite interesting.  Our city's pop orchestra was performing the first half, and then the second half a choir was added in.  My grandma was in that choir.  The music was quite lovely.  They had a lot of the major Christmas tunes!  Carol of the Bells, my favorite, was really excellent!  Not that I am biased or anything!  (I might be.)

It was nice to go to a quality concert.  This isn't something I normally do, and so it was new and interesting.  I went with my mom and grandparents, so it wasn't exactly the best group.  I always think going with friends makes things even more fun, but family time is important too.

Tomorrow night is my! chorus production.  I am nervous about two of the songs, but otherwise I am pretty excited!  I don't have any solos, but that's alright by me I suppose.  Last year I had a solo, What Child Is This?  It wasn't the full song, but it was a couple lines and was really great!  I love the song, and it was my first solo, so I was rather proud.

I like our songs this year.  We have a really pretty Ave Maria, but it is a difficult one that I am worried about.  Another difficult one is "And The Angels Sang," and I don't like it as much, but it still has its nice parts.  We sing the "hark the herald angels sing..." one also, and that might be my favorite song!  It's so... majestic!  I am not sure if I am happy about singing "I saw mommy kissing santa claus" or not.  It can be a somewhat annoying song, but hopefully we will sound good enough so that it won't be annoying.  It's somewhat a jazz-ish version, so maybe that will make it better.

Well that is all for now!  Have a lovely Saturday tomorrow.  Is it snowing where you live?  If so... drive safe!  But enjoy the snow.  Because even though it's cold and annoying at times, it really is pretty if you sit indoors and look at it through the window under a blanket or sweatshirt!!!